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Thank you for your kind words and interest. I also really like the new panel layout. Being old school and for your information, I hot cut out the panels.

I am currently on hold waiting for some minor parts for one of my vintage Singer sewing machines. For most of my kite builds to date, I use a straight stitch with my vintage Singer 604. For the Bird of Prey 48 with the new curved panels, I will be using a vintage Singer 645 that has been in storage for some time. Unfortunately, the Singer 645 had a vinyl coated walking foot (aka soft foot), where the vinyl is now all gone. My research online indicates this was a normal problem with this machine. The recommendation online is to replace the walking foot with a conventional steel one with teeth. The replacement part should be here by the end of this week. Other than the problem with the walking foot, the Singer 645 is like brand new, with very little use and just needed a little cleaning and lubrication. I also was able to obtain a multi-step zig zag cam (Simanco Cam 174527, Disc. No. 9) for this machine, which should be here by the end of the week. The Singer 645 came with almost all of the other unique stitching cams, except the one I wanted.

Both of these vintage Singer machines are mostly steel, except for a few minor plastic parts. For me, they are twins because they are built the same, except for the additional features of the 645, which makes servicing them very easy. The Singer 604 has served me well through my kite building efforts and abuse to date. My comments are not recommendations for these two sewing machines, but just my experience in what sewing machines are at my disposal as a fellow non-commercial/production kite builder.

I have all of the materials to tape or glue the panels together. I am leaning towards using a glue stick for the panel assembly. Thank you to stapp59 and sugarbaker for their guidance on this assembly step. Should be back at the build this coming weekend.

While waiting for the parts for my Singer 645, which just arrived, I finally constructed two Birds of Prey (BOP) with two different CST carbon frames. My goal was to try a stiffer frame and a hollow carbon tube frame in the kite.

The attached picture shows my original/stock BOP 24 on the left with the black joiner, which has 0.03 in. carbon rods and weights 2.7 grams. The BOP in the middle with the blue joiner has CST 0.033 in. carbon rods and weights 2.8 grams. The BOP on the right with the white joiner has CST 0.028 inch carbon tubes and weights 2.4 grams. The original BOP 24 was made from white Cuben fabric, where the other two BOP 24s are made from orange Cuben fabric.

They all fly great! The one with the stiffer frame fly’s a little faster and covers the most ground, but is a little less forgiving in a tight turn due to the stiffness of the frame. The one with the lighter frame is a joy to fly, where the frame is slightly stiffer than the stock BOP. The stock BOP is still a great glider kite to fly! Note the different length of the 0.08 inch carbon tube used as nose weight for each BOP. I have the glide slope about the same for each BOP, but may still tinker with location of the center of gravity.

Thank you and yes that was a gust! I recorded the video early yesterday morning, and the wind went from dead calm to light and choppy. The wind was coming over and around our home, which would be on the left side of the video. Not bad for a 36 inch glider kite that only weighs only 7.15 grams, with the upgraded and stiffer CST 0.079 inch carbon tube frame.

It was a late night yesterday, or should I say an early morning, but I was able to complete all of the sewing on the Bird of Prey 48. The Singer 645 is good for the zig zag stitching, but I went back to my old reliable Singer 604 to complete the remaining straight stitching. The walking foot on the Singer 645 has an extra small foot in the center behind the needle, which is a problem if you want to back stitch our thin sail materials. I did use the Singer 645 for the straight stitching around the edges, which worked fine. Serviced my old Singer 604, and it worked flawlessly on the remaining straight stitching.

Will complete the framing and assemble the BOP 48 today and post some pictures. Can’t wait to get this one in the air, because it looks so cool. Once it’s assembled and the amount of nose weight has been selected for the desired center of gravity, I will complete the minor revisions to the plans, add the building notes and post the link. The actual build for this BOP has been fast for me because of the following event.

Over the past few years, most of my kite building activities, which include this BOP, are for the American Cancer Society (ACS) Relay Event for Life (RFL), held at the Mt. Olive High School in Flanders, New Jersey. This years’ event will be next weekend on June 7 and 8, 2014. My involvement with this event is very personal. Eight years ago, my closest friend and spouse for over 31 years, Eileen, was diagnosed with breast cancer. After two surgeries, follow up radiation treatment, and the associated emotional roller coaster ride for the entire family, she will be celebrating her 8th year as a cancer survivor.

If you have been following this thread of posts, you will notice that I have built a few custom kites (Rapere and Eagle) to fly or display at this event, as shown in the attached picture. This event has been my inspiration for the glider kites that I have been sharing with all of you on this forum. Most of my ultra-light efforts are for flying at this event, if the night air is still or if the weather moves us indoors.

If you have an ACS RFL event in your area, by all means, please attend and bring the joy of kiting to the event. Kiting has a way of lifting everyone’s state of mind. If you live in driving distance of northern New Jersey, come on by and join us. The following provides the link our event.

My family’s team is Bracelets for a Cure, which is run by my daughter, Christina, and Eileen. If you wish to attend, just drop me a note. If you wish join and/or donate to our team, the link is provided below:

The attached picture is the completed Bird of Prey 48 with the new PC31 sail pattern. Looks nice with the curves. Due to the change in the type of panel seams, was able to save 1.1 grams over the prototype. This version weighs 30.7 grams, has a sail loading of 0.0591 grams/square inch of sail area, and fly’s just like the prototype.

If you have been following my development of the Bird of Prey swept forward wing glider kites, you will know that I am pleased with the design for the ultra-light and low wind versions of the kite. In the spirit of sharing the joy of this design with other glider kite enthusiasts, the following provides my requests and the links to the Bird of Prey 48 made with PC31.

Requests:

• When you download the plans, please provide a financial contribution to this great kite forum.

• When you complete your Bird of Prey 48, please post a picture or video of your kite on this great kite forum.

• There is a note on the plans that indicates the plans are not being offered for someone to build and sell the kite to others for a profit.

If you are not comfortable building a Bird of Prey 48 yourself, just send me a note and I will build one for you. The color selection is up to you, with my guidance. The reasonable fee I request for the construction the Bird of Prey 48 allows me to replace my building materials, so that I can continue my research efforts that brought you the Hawks, Raperes, and now the Birds of Prey.

I am in the process of finishing the detailed plans for the Bird of Prey 24 made with Cuben fabric, and will post the link in the near future.

It was a very successful American Cancer Society’s (ACS) Relay for Life (RFL) event in Mount Olive, New Jersey this weekend, which just finished at dawn this morning. Just wanted to drop this note after getting a few hours of sleep.

Was able to get some quality air time on the Birds of Prey during the evening and early morning hours. Flew my two Bird of Prey 48s in the evening, under very light wind conditions. They do like just a little light wind to really perform, and can easily handle winds above 5 mph.

After midnight, I put together and flew the ultra-light Bird of Prey 36. This is the one I used to record the Memorial Day video. With the calm, damp and cool night air, I had a blast and cannot ask any more from a glider kite than what this one can do.

When I post the Plans for the ultra-light Bird of Prey 24, I also will be posting the plans for the ultra-light Bird of Prey 36. They are built the same, except for the larger size and larger diameter carbon frame.

If you are unsure what to build, here are my suggestions:

• Small indoor areas and outdoors with calm to light winds: Bird of Prey 24• Large indoor areas, such as a gym, and outdoors with calm to light winds: Bird of Prey 36• Outdoors with light winds: Bird of Prey 48

Thank you to the fellow glider enthusiasts who have asked for me to build a few Birds of Prey (BOP) for them. Construction is progressing quite nicely.

If you are waiting for me to post the plans for the ultra-light BOP 24 and 36, there will be slight delay. I am still updated the plans to incorporate my current building techniques, such as using PC31 and double sided tape, instead tedlar tape, for the batten pockets and other minor reinforcements.

I finally had a few moments and replaced the 0.059 with 0.079 inch diameter carbon tubes in the ultra-light BOP 48 made with Cuben. This glider kite now has the same frame as the BOP 48 made with PC31. The weight went up quite a bit, from 11.3 to 15.4 grams, but so did the performance.

The Cuben version is now about half of the weight of the PC31 version at 31.8 grams and is now a great glider kite. I had an incredible evening yesterday with the ultra-light BOP 36 and BOP 48 glider kites in zero to very light wind conditions. The ultra-light BOP 48, as I currently have it trimmed, is the slowest glider kite I have ever flown. I can walk faster than this kite! The BOP 36 is still my favorite and my bench mark for how a glider kite should fly and be responsive to the glider pilot's line inputs.

Also replaced the 0.098 with 0.118 inch diameter carbon tubes in the BOP 62 made with PC31. I wanted to see if I could make this glider kite a little stiffer and more responsive. The weigh increase was minor, from 52.5 to 54.8 grams. When I have time, will test fly this glider kite in some light to moderate wind conditions.

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